photoswonder

If there was one invention that changed the layout of London more than any other, it was the steam train and its railway. Almost the entire railway network, which is still in use today, was established during Queen Victoria’s reign. London’s first railway line opened in February 1836 between Spa Road in Bermondsey and Deptford. The extension to the terminus at the south end of London Bridge opened on 14 December 1836 and to Greenwich on 12 April 1840: trains ran along London’s longest viaduct (4 miles) carrying passengers to the delights of Greenwich in just 12 minutes. This slashed the journey time by riverboat or omnibus. No wonder then that around 650,000 passengers travelled the route in its first 15 months. To build a new railway, you had to demolish a lot of buildings - so it was easier to get approval for lines that ran mainly through poorer areas. This puts the locations of many London railway termini into context. Property was cheap...